Christmas Letter 2014

Dear Friends and Family: December 2014 Merry Christmas to you all. We again hope that the holiday season finds you and your families experiencing peace and God's blessings in full measure. We have a lot to be thankful for and it has been a busy year in general. Here is a quick overview of what has been going on with us. Robin - Robin is finishing her last year of being a home-school instructor. She began with Claire and is now finishing with Leah. That's a total of 17 years! I applaud her discipline and resourcefulness in a job well done. Robin and I turned 50 this year in May. To celebrate, she hiked in and out of the Grand Canyon with her friend Kris Willyard in September. She says it was amazing...just ask her about it. She continues to work part-time as a physical therapist and still loves her active lifestyle. Claire - Claire graduated from Grand Valley State University in April. She graduated “cum laude” with a double major in Business, Marketing, and with a minor in Spanish. She has parlayed that into a job in the international operations division of the Chrysler Corporation in Auburn Hills, MI. If you follow her on Facebook, you will see that she takes advantage of their liberal car borrowing policy. "Dad, I drove 130 mph on the test track in a Chrysler 200!" She has an apartment and is experiencing life in the big city. She is doing well and we are very proud of her accomplishments. Lauren - Lauren is attending the local community college in Grand Rapids. She is living "large" with Grandma Salik and is working her waitressing job at Applebee's. Lauren's focus is getting her general ed classes out of the way and then focusing on studies in business and art. (Like her old man - I'm so proud!) That's right, Robin and I have two kids out of the house and we are beginning to experience the empty-nest syndrome. Lauren is doing well and its great to see her 'spread her wings". Leah - In her senior year of high school, Leah has been busy finishing her high school requirements and has also had the time to take several college classes, and work a couple of part-time jobs. She is playing basketball, will be performing in the drama this year, and making her decision about college in the fall. She and Robin will have the great opportunity to go to France in the Spring with Leah's French class. Nice way to wrap up her high school career. Steve - Robin and I also took a marvelous trip to Italy in October for two weeks with our good friends John and Tammy Raymond. We highly recommend it. We celebrated our 28th anniversary in December and my freelance design business is keeping me very busy. I am quickly coming up on 10 years of working for myself. I will also have the opportunity to teach in the furniture design program at Kendall College for a semester again this year. In addition, I continue to keep the yard, cars, home, computers, printers, etc. working....most of the time. We would love to hear from all of you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!